Sonoco Products Company has disclosed that its chief operating officer (COO) Rodger Fuller will retire on 28 February 2026.
Fuller’s career with the packaging manufacturer spans four decades, during which he held various senior roles.
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Fuller has been COO since 2020, taking responsibility for Sonoco’s operations across consumer and industrial sectors, as well as its diversified business activities and IT.
He was also interim CEO for Sonoco’s Metal Packaging EMEA business, a role that continued until the end of last year.
Sonoco will not fill the COO position following Fuller’s departure. Instead, each business unit president will report directly to president and chief executive officer Howard Coker.
Coker said: “Rodger is an exceptional business operator and widely respected leader in the paper and packaging industry. He has always been willing to take on new challenges and drive for improved operational and financial performance for our company.
“I want to express our deepest gratitude to Rodger for his extraordinary leadership and unwavering commitment to Sonoco over the past four decades, and we wish him well in his next chapter.”
Fuller first joined Sonoco in 1985 as a customer service representative and subsequently moved up through various managerial and executive appointments.
These included posts such as executive vice president of global operations, senior vice president of global consumer packaging, display and packaging and protective solutions, as well as senior vice president of paper and engineered carriers.
His responsibilities have covered operations in both North America and Europe.
Beyond his roles within Sonoco, Fuller has participated in several industry and community groups.
Fuller commented: “It’s been my honour to work alongside so many talented people at Sonoco and participate in the extraordinary progress we have achieved during my tenure in transforming the company into a global leader in consumer and industrial metal and paper packaging.”
Last November, Sonoco combined its metal packaging and rigid paper container units into a single consumer packaging structure, organised by geography.
The reorganised structure has two divisions: Consumer Packaging EMEA/APAC and Consumer Packaging Americas.
